UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor: Investigate the Possibility that Israel is Committing the Crime of Genocide Against the Palestinian People

More than 200 protesters attended the Jan. 6 “Women’s Rally to Free Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian Child Prisoners” in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles… The event was co-sponsored by Jews for Palestinian Right of Return and Al-Awda (the Palestine Right to Return Coalition), and endorsed by Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, North America BDS, American Indian Movement (AIM), Black Lives Matter (BLM) Pasadena, CODE PINK and Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)… “We know what oppression looks like. We know what genocide looks like,” said Idle No More organizer Lydia Ponce, citing the parallels to the Native American oppression in the U.S.

An Israeli military court ruled today to keep 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi and her mother Nariman in prison until the end of their trial. Ahed, a well-known Palestinian activist was detained a month ago after a video was published online of Ahed slapping and hitting two Israeli soldiers, yelling at them to leave her family’s property.

The Tamimi family from Nabi Saleh are well known activists who have led non-violent protests against the illegal Israeli military occupation for nearly a decade. Ahed’s father Bassem was previously arrested nine times and spent four years in prison where he was tortured. He spent 14 months in jail simply waiting for a trial, which was repeatedly postponed. Bassem told Mondoweiss that he won’t be surprised if the same happens to Ahed and Nariman with the goal of detaining them for as long as possible.

“I expect the worst from the occupation,” Bassem told Mondoweiss.

“Honestly, we can’t expect anything else from the court; the court is a component of this occupation. It’s used by the legal system to punish the Palestinians.”

“They target all Palestinians… they want to show the world that, ‘We just punish those who resist.’ That’s not true. They punish all Palestinians because they’re Palestinians and they exist. This is a genocide since 1948,” Bassem said.

Undeniably, the views of Ariel, Bennett and Caspit are not angry statements uttered in a moment of rage. They are all reflections of real policies that have been carried out for over 70 years. Indeed, killing, raping and imprisoning for life are features that have accompanied the state of Israel since the very beginning.

This violent legacy continues to define Israel to this day, through the use of what Israeli historian Ilan Pappe describes as “incremental genocide”.

Throughout this long legacy, little has changed except for names and titles. The Zionist militias that orchestrated the genocide of the Palestinians prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948 merged together to form the Israeli army; and the leaders of these groups became Israel’s leaders.

I carry Palestine in my heart, Macedonian poet Pande Manojlov who has written poems expressing his love and affection for Palestinian people told Anadolu Agency. Manojlov, who is also a writer, critic and journalist, said he tries to encourage sensitivity about the Palestinian cause by sharing his poems and writings on social network platforms.

…The suffering of the Palestinian people, who have been subjected to repeated violence of Israeli security forces, has led to calls for ending of their persecution. Worldwide campaigns have been launched to express solidarity with Palestinians.

The poem, which was also translated in Arabic, recalled the tragedy that took place in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

In a statement on Friday Mandela said after the brutality meted out to teenagers like Tamimi‚ the ‘’moral thing to do’’ was for South Africa to send the Israeli ambassador home and cut ties with that country.

“We want to send this message to our comrades in the Palestinian resistance‚ both those living under occupation as well as the millions living in forced exile; we shall stand by you in the struggle for a free Palestine‚’’ said Mandela‚ grandson of former president Nelson Mandela.

“Today we declare for all the world to hear that South Africa is no friend of Apartheid Israel and we condemn the ongoing tyranny‚ brutality and acts of genocide.’’

You, who casually turn your taps and light switches on and off, consider the everyday stress of barely sufficient water for the family that trickles from the Israeli Mekorot company and the systematic electricity blackouts in summer and winter extremes metered out through Israel’s covert system of slow-motion genocide. Ask yourself, how does a Gazan mother ensure her children’s health when the Israelis deliberately, as means of illegal collective punishment, calculate “the minimum caloric intake necessary for Palestinians to avoid malnutrition so Israel could limit the amount of foodstuffs allowed into Gaza without causing outright starvation.”